


Green But for a Moment

by cattraxneedsfood (cjtrax)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Anxiety, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Asexuality, Blood, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Mage Inquisitor (Dragon Age), Multi, No Smut, POV Third Person, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, Swearing, Trauma, and i'll make sure to add ones in when needed, and it will end with cullen/inquis, as a warning this is not a healthy solasmance, but get over it, dorian/lavellan is not with inquis, i know some people hate that stuff, i literally don't know how to tag, indenting takes too much effort on a03, inquis has a twin brother, will appear later in story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2019-10-31 17:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17853677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjtrax/pseuds/cattraxneedsfood
Summary: Green.Everything is green.Pain.Mind-numbing pain.Flashes of running and a woman yelling.What is happening?...From her parents death when she was young, taking care of her twin brother, and being named First, she was never given the time to figure out how she would fit in the world. Accepting the responsibility thrust on her shoulders, Arlena pushed down her insecurities and became the person she needed to be. After learning of the rising tensions between the shemlen and the subsequent meeting their Divine had put together the Keeper asked her to go investigate to keep the clan informed. Leaving her brother and clan behind she arrived at the Conclave only to be caught in a world rending event. Waking up after the explosion and having even more responsibilities thrust on her in a sea of chaos, full of unfamiliar faces and demons, she must navigate this new life and figure out how to keep afloat.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay so i've never posted a fic before, or technically written one either, so go easy. also i'm not here for constructive criticism, i just want to write out my headcannons for my inquis, so just please don't. like if you want to put suggestions i'll listen. but do not pick apart my writing. thank you. 
> 
> fyi this is gonna be a behemoth and i have a giant outline ready so be warned. also yes this will start out solavellan and turn into cullen/lavellan. i'm not sorry, i know some people have problems with this, but i don't care. cullen in this story is not just a rebound, you'll see. hopefully. i wanted to tell you now so that you won't be disappointed when it happens, eventually. also you could call this a slow burn. like a really slow burn. it's a slow burn.
> 
> also yes my inquis is asexual. i am also ace, so it should be pretty accurate, right? if i portray something you think is wrong or hurtful, you can tell me and i'll take it into consideration, but again i am writing about a sexuality that i actually am so. also all aces are different so if she doesn't seem like what you assume aces are, that doesn't mean it's wrong, feel free to ask me questions about it!  
> that considered there will also be a main character later in the story who is a gay man who will be in a homosexual relationship with another gay man. i am not a gay man. i may get stuff wrong. feel free to help me keep everything accurate and as sensitive as possible!
> 
> there will not be an update schedule. i have a full-time research job and i'm just doing this for fun.
> 
> anyway thanks for reading!!

_ Green. _

_ Everything is green. _

_ Pain. _

_ Mind-numbing pain. _

_ Flashes of running and a woman yelling. _

_ What is happening? _

_ More green. _

_ It’s all just so green. _

_ A large flash of green light. _

_ The worst pain. _

_ A scream. _

She awoke on the floor yelling out and writhing in pain. The girl tried to struggle out of her cramped position and found she was in manacles. She looked around the room to get her bearings. It seemed she was being kept in a prison of sorts. She was in the middle of the room with cells surrounding her. A hunched figure to her side saw her stirring and started with a surprise.

“Inform Lady Cassandra that the prisoner has awoken, she will surely want to have a word,” the man told a guard, as he passed through the light she saw that the man was an elf like her.  _ Who was he? Where am I?  _ She wondered.

More pain wracked through her body and now she could see where the green was coming from, her hand lit up and crackled as the pain shot through her. She became even more confused and scared.  _ What in the gods happened to me?  _ She curled up as best she could to try to control the pain emanating from her arm.

She wasn’t’ sure how long she lay there when the door was thrown open and light flooded the room. A fierce woman with short cropped, dark hair strode through the door in anger.

“I thought you said she was awake,” the woman spoke with a rough accent she couldn’t quite place, looking down on her curled up body.

“She is, I think she is just in pain,” said another woman who had entered behind the fierce one, speaking with an Orlesian accent. The second woman, red of hair with a piercing gaze crouched forward and pulled her up to a sitting position. 

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now. The conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for you,” the fierce woman all but yelled.

The girl looked up at the intimidating women in front of her, confused by everything that had happened since she was woken by the burning pain in her palm, “What- what do you mean? Who is dead? What happened?” 

The woman strides forward, grabbing the girls glowing arm and hiking her into the air, “Explain this!”

The girl yelled in anguish upon being pulled up so roughly by the arm that was causing her such pain. This pain, that had started from the second she woke up, was unlike anything she had ever experienced before, like being electrocuted and branded at the same time, the energy shooting up her arm at random intervals, giving her no reprieve from the torturous pain, “I-I...,” another surge of energy shoots up her arm as she tries to grit out words, still held in the vice grip of the woman, “can’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what this is. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t even know where I am!” by this time the woman finally dropped her, the girl struggled to stand upright, still holding her aching arm.

“You’re lying!” the woman made to strike her but was held off by the other.

“No, we need her, Cassandra.”

“I don’t understand what’s happening. I don’t know how I got here.”

“Do you remember anything? How this began?” the other woman asked her.

“I-,” she could remember her Keeper telling her to go to the meeting of shemlen, to find out what’s been causing all the unrest. She remembered leaving the clan for the first and longest time in her life. She remembered leaving her brother behind. She remembered arriving at this meeting, surrounded by shemlen, aware of too many eyes on her. She also remembered green and pain and, “-a woman.” 

“What?”

“Something was chasing me and then this woman reached out to me, but…” she couldn’t remember anything past that, everything a green blur.

“Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take her to the rift,” the fierce woman, Cassandra apparently, said to the other. She seemed to have relaxed while watching the girl struggle to remember what happened.

As the other woman, Leliana, left the girl straightened up as best she could while still restrained, “Do you know what  _ did _ happen?”

Cassandra pulled her forward and replaced her manacles with rope, “It will be easier to show you.”

As they made their way outside, the sun shined brightly on the snow covered ground, the girl blindly looked around until her eyes adjust. When they did she looked up to see a large green rip in the sky that oddly matched the scar on her hand. It pulsated and seemed to be slowly expanding, eager to eat away all around it. The sight sent shivers down her spine,  _ what did I get myself into? _

“We call it the Breach. It is a rift to the world of demons and it grows larger with each passing hour. It is not the only one, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion,” Cassandra stated, looking up at the monstrosity in the sky, “Unless we act, it may grow until it swallows the whole world.”

As they watch the Breach grew and the mark on her hand glowed with energy, sending shooting pains throughout her body and falling to the ground, teeth clenched shut and growling in pain. 

Cassandra looks back at the girl kneeling on the floor in pain, face impassive, “Each time the breach grows your mark spreads,” she paused, “and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn’t much time.”

Looking around she saw no way out of this, pausing to take it all in she looked out at the sky, at the breach encompassing what was once a familiar sight and realized there was no course of action but forward, “Well we had better get going then.”

“Oh. Yes, we should,” Cassandra started forward to help the girl up, impressed with her sudden resolve.

“Are you going to ask who I am? You asked why I was here but nothing more.”

“Well, I suppose, yes I should know who you are. You seem to have calmed quite a bit, I am impressed.”

“What else am I supposed to do, just sit around and cry about it? Looking up at a giant magic gaping hole in the sky that could eat our whole world and being inexplicably connected to it really puts things in perspective. I already had to come to terms with my life being decided for me before, this doesn’t seem that different to me. Well, except the mysterious excruciating pain in my arm,” she rambled on. Cassandra stared at her throughout this, becoming increasingly more impressed with every word and more curious about this young elven girl.

“So, what is your name then?”

“Arlena Lavellan.”

“Good to meet you, Arlena, well as good as this situation can get. I am Cassandra Pentaghast,” she provided, anticipating the reaction once the girl recognized her name and relieved when it seemed like that would not occur.  _ Maybe this girl could actually help us.  _ As she thought, she looked the girl over. She was young, round-faced and innocent, but with a hardness behind her eyes that belied her years. Small of build and frame with short black hair and vibrant lavender eyes offset by dark brown vallaslin that arched across her face in twisting branches,  _ obviously Dalish. She is used to hardship, then.  _ Cassandra’s years of training provided her with the easy deduction that this girl was a mage, obvious by the tingle of magic in the air around her and the telltale marks on her hands from wielding a staff and the backlash of one’s own magic on the skin of her forearms.  _ But I already knew that, the other elf told me so _ , “Let us be on our way.”

They walked through the crowd of survivors, the villagers eyes full of accusations, “They have already decided your guilt. The people of Haven mourn the Divine. This meeting was a chance to bring peace between the templars and mages. But now they are all dead,” as the gates were opened and they made their way through, Cassandra turned to the girl, Arlena, “We lash out like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves for now. Until the breach is sealed,” she put her hand out waiting for Arlena to offer hers. The girl looked at her warily but raised her bound wrists. Cassandra pulled out a dagger and cut her free, “There will be a trial. I can promise no more. Now come, it is not far.”

Once her hands were freed, Arlena finally got a good look at the mark on her hand. A large gash that took up most of her palm, pulsating green and bright, shone through her fingers. She flattened her palm out to get a better look and could see deep bruising and scars already forming around the gash, but oddly no bleeding. She did not recognize this kind of magic and was disturbed by the energy pulsating through her arm. Realizing she had stopped and stared for too long, she clenched her fist around the mark and looked up to the woman before her, “Where are we going?”

“Your mark must be tested on something smaller. Come,” and at that Cassandra turned away and started walking, Arlena trailing behind her. 

They walked through the gate onto a wide bridge that went over a small frozen river. Tents and medics were set up all across, people running back and forth, makeshift desks set up and bodies. So many bodies, wounded, wrapped, and covered. They littered the bridge, lined up in case they need to fit more. Living as nomads away from normal society, Arlena was no stranger to what happens after a fight. But no fight happened here. These people came to see peace made, but instead they would not wake to see the world again.  _ And they all think I did it. _

They reached the end of the bridge without incident, eyes watching warily as they passed, to another gate, “Open the gate! We are headed into the valley!” Cassandra yelled to the guards.

As they made their way through and uphill, more and more corpses and sights of fights were made clear to them.  _ How long did it take to get like this? What could have caused this? _

As they crested the hill she felt it coming this time, but couldn’t quite holdback the yell that ripped from her throat as a new pulse of energy rocked through her arm, sending her to the ground yet again. Holding her arm and gritting her teeth, she got back up with the help of Cassandra, biting back tears that threatened to fall.

“The pulses are coming faster now. The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face.”

“How was I able to survive this?”

“They said you,” she paused, “stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious. They say a women was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I suppose you’ll see soon enough.”

“What is this temple anyway? I don’t really know much about it.”

“Well, it doesn't seem to matter now, I am not surprised though that you would not know it. It was said that Andraste’s ashes were kept here, locked away and that they possess special powers, but no one was able to find it. And if they were real they were destroyed in the explosion anyway,” Cassandra looked up toward the Breach, “But we should not tary. Let us go.”

They arrived at a second bridge crossing the same frozen river. Right as they made their way across, the hairs on Arlena’s arms started to stand up and she saw something large and green coming for them.  _ Oh, fuck. _ She reached out to try to push Cassandra out of the way and right as she made contact the bridge was hit by the projectile and the two were sent flying down to the frozen river below.

_ Oh, fuck!  _ As they tumbled down to the frozen landscape below them she reached her hand out, one still holding on to Cassandra’s arm, and let out a blast of energy, cushioning their fall as much as she could, rolling to a stop on the icy expanse.

Laying in a daze, she heard a crackle of energy, prepared for a shooting pain in her arm. Instead, a pool of green not far from them produced a figure of darkness, hunched forward with clawed arms reaching out. Cassandra wrenched herself up, drawing her sword and moving into a fighting stance, “Stay behind me!”

The figure advanced and Cassandra ran forward to meet it, Arlena watched, ready to step in if she needed to.

Then a second crackle of energy and another pool appeared closer to Arlena, bringing a second dark figure with it. She looked around frantically for something to fight with, but the creature was moving toward her and with no time to worry about what this may do to her arm, she reached forward sending a blast of energy at the creature, forcing it back fifty feet from her. The force of her untethered magic rocked through her and she could feel the joints in her arms creak from the strain.  _ I’ll have to deal with that later. _

While the creature was distracted, she summoned a ball of fire in her hand and sent it rocketing into the chest of the creature, lighting it on fire and slowly burning it from the inside.

At the same moment she saw Cassandra strike clean through the other creature, slicing it cleanly in half. As the figure sloughed to the ground, Cassandra turned toward her, ready to fight the second demon, only to see it’s smoldering corpse laying on the ice. 

She then turned to the girl, “Drop your-...,” Cassandra looked at the girl in confusion. She was not armed. She knew that mages could still perform magic without their staffs, but most did not for fear of the repercussions of magic on their bodies. Striding forward, she grabbed the girls arm to inspect the damage. She had a raised welt the size of almost her whole palm where she had obviously summoned the fire used to immolate the creature, but aside from that, she seemed fine. 

As her arm was let go, Arlena could feel the creaking of her joints from the shockwave sent through them from using force magic twice with no focus to guide it and her hand smarted from the burn, but she had had worse, she would be fine. 

“I know you do not technically need a staff, but you should have one. I think some supplies fell from the bridge when it collapsed,” as she said this they both walked over to the rubble to search for anything they could use. 

As they searched Cassandra also found a small amount of salve and wrapping that she used on Arlena’s palm to try to protect the wounded skin. “Thank you.”

They were able to collect a few things from the rubble, namely a staff for Arlena. It was nothing much to look at, a basic wooden staff topped with a small gem and a small blade on the end about the size of a dagger. “This will do.”

“Good. I also found some potions. We will need them. Here. Maker knows what we will face,” she said as she handed a small bag with the items she had found to Arlena.

She took the bag and slung it across her body, making sure it was secure, “Where are all your soldiers anyway?”

“At the forward camp, or fighting. We are on our own, for now.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to meet some friends and continue on to the blast zone, dude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh so yeah it's been a bit since i posted the first chapter and if anyone cares, sorry about that. I've found it's so much easier and fun to write stuff that will happen later in the story and it's kept me from writing this beginning section, but we'll get there, eventually.  
> Also I'm not super comfortable writing combat/action, hopefully I'll get better.  
> Again, no update schedule so there.

They made their way through the frozen landscape, traveling up out of the valley toward the temple at the top of the large hill, encountering a few more scattered demons, this time the two were better armed and took them down with ease. As they got closer, the wreckage and corpses kept appearing more and more frequently, the concentration of demons also increasing as they got closer to the sight of the explosion. 

As they made their way up the hill, getting closer to ground zero, they could hear the sounds of combat getting louder as they moved forward. They crested over the rise and a small battle was playing out before them between a few soldiers, a dwarf with an odd looking crossbow, an elven mage, and a host of demons that seemed to be pouring from the pulsating green rip in the air, like a smaller version of the breach in the sky. As Arlena looked out at the commotion, the dwarf aimed his crossbow at one of the demons coming toward him and fired a shot that seemed altogether too powerful compared to anything she had seen, right through where the head should be, causing the demon to fall to the ground and cease movement. She looked at the man in awe, _where the hell did he get that thing?_

“Like what you see? Well come on, don’t just stand there and gawk, we could use some help!” the dwarf yelled out while firing another round into a demon to his right.

“Oh, yes, sorry!”

Her and Cassandra crested over the small wall and entered the fray, Cassandra going right in to hack at a demon baring for the elven mage. Arlena looked around and saw two demons being held back by one lone soldier and aimed a shot of force magic to push one away. The energy caught the demon straight in the chest, sending it sliding backwards while she prepared a fireball at the end of her staff and sent it flying at the other, hitting it straight in the chest. While the second demon was smouldering, the soldier hacked through it with their sword, sending it to the ground. The soldier turned to Arlena in awe, “Thank you, ma’am!” 

She nodded her head and looked around to help out anyone else. The small group, with the help of the new additions, made quick work of all the demons with one final sword through the heart. Arlena looked up at the small green rip in the air before her, crackling with energy. As she got closer, the pain in her hand increased with the pulsing of the rift. She raised her hand up unconsciously, as though touching the rift could help in some way. 

“Quickly, before more come through!” the elven mage ran up and grabbed her wrist, thrusting the mark toward the rift. The green energy pulsated faster and faster between her and the rift and up her arm. Right as the pain began to become too much, she ripped her hand back and out of the grasp of the man holding her. The tenuous strand of energy connecting her to the rift pulled tawt and broke with her movement, causing the rift before her to collapse in on itself and close, leaving nothing in its wake. 

With the release of the hold on her arm, she fell backwards, stumbling to stay upright, clutching on to her aching arm, “What did you do?”

“ _I_ did nothing. The credit is yours,” the elven mage stated, turning to her with a critical eye.

“I didn’t do anything, this did,” indicating the mark on her hand. 

“Whatever magic opened the breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand. I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach’s wake,” he said with a note of smugness, “and it seems I was correct.”

As Arlena rested her staff on the ground, she looked around. There were dead bodies, demon and soldier alike, scattered all over the ground, at least 20 in total. In her daze, she barely noticed the others approach. 

“Meaning it could also close the Breach itself,” Cassandra surmised, striding forward to the two mages.

“Possibly,” he responded, then turned to Arlena, “It seems you hold the key to our salvation.”

_Well, fuck._

“Good to know! Here I thought we’d be ass-deep in demons forever,” the dwarf with the odd crossbow burst out, arriving next to Cassandra. 

Arlena looked at the group, confused by the motley crew in front of her. This was getting more and more complicated as time went on. 

The dwarf moved forward, holding out a hand, “Varric Tethras: rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong.”

Arlena looked at his hand as he shot a wink over to Cassandra, who scowled back at him. Confused, she reached out and took his hand in both of hers, holding onto it, “Uh… andaran atish’an, I am Arlena, are you with the chantry as well?”

The other elven mage chuckled at her words, “Was that a serious question?”

“I did not mean to offend,” she stated, still holding onto Varric’s hand, unaware of his growing discomfort.

Varric let out a short, awkward cough and gently tugged his hand away from her, “Technically I’m a prisoner, like you.”

“Oh,” she looked down at him with wide eyes, “did you get caught in this, too?” and made to grab his hand again to inspect it for a scar like her own.

“No, no, no, nothing like that. She brought me here, but what she wanted doesn’t seem that necessary anymore.”

“Yes and now you get to help us out of this mess, lucky for you,” Cassandra stated, dryly.

“Of course it is, I can never escape earth shattering events, try as I might. You’ll need me, anyway. Your soldiers aren’t in control anymore,” his statement was met with a glower and a noise of disgust from Cassandra. 

The other elven mage, she noticed, had been watching their conversation with an amused smirk on his face, as he noticed her watching him, he stepped forward, “My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions. I’m pleased to see you are still alive.”

“He means, ‘I kept that mark from killing you while you slept,’” Varric piped up.

“Oh, you were the one who called out when I woke up, correct?” he nodded his head, “Aneth ara, ma serannas… um, I mean thank y-”

“I understand you, but you should not thank me until we manage to close the Breach without killing you in the process.”

She looked down at her hand again, mulling over his words, “So you know about this magic? About the mark?”

“My travels have allowed me to learn much of the Fade, far beyond the experience of any Circle mage. I came to offer whatever help I can give with the Breach. If it is not closed, we are all doomed regardless of origin.”

“This can’t have occurred that long ago, how did you get here so quickly? Were you at the conclave as well?”

“No, but the spirits tell me of areas of interest and I had heard from them of a meeting here, so I decided it could be worth my while to scout it out. The explosion happened and I made myself available to help,” he paused, then turned to Cassandra, “You should know: the magic involved here is unlike any I have ever seen. She is a mage, but I find it difficult to imagine any mage having such power.”

“Understood. We must get to the forward camp quickly,” Cassandra stepped forward to show them the way.

“Well, Bianca’s excited!”

“This way, down the bank. The road ahead is blocked.”

As they made their way over the rubble to start moving down the embankment, Arlena turned to Varric, “Who is Bianca?”

“My crossbow, she’s beautiful isn’t she?”

She looked at him curiously, “Yes, she is.”

 

They continued on down the rubble to a steep, narrow path, as they reached the bottom they heard the familiar crackling energy that predates a demon arrival. Four glowing green pools appeared on the river bed before them as two dark-cloaked demons clawed their way out and two glowing green figures appeared beside them.

“Demons ahead!”

Cassandra charged forward to dispatch the demons that appeared in front of them as Solas and Varric slung spells and arrows from a distance. 

Arlena took little time to deliberate and ran forward to backup Cassandra, thrusting forward her staff toward the demons surrounding her, flicking it up quickly then slamming it down to the ground. The demons surrounding Cassandra flew into the air and crashed back to the ground in a heap. Off their guard, the dazed demons were quickly cut down by the two women. 

Varric descended further down the path to stand with the two women, “That was impressive! I’ve only seen one other mage use that kind of magic and she would never tell me where she learned it either.” 

“Yes, quite. You use magical force as though it were a battering ram. I have seen this used before but not often, is it common among the Dalish?” Solas added as he joined them.

“Hmm, I don’t think so, no. My keeper never did like it very much, but I found magic easier to use as more of a physical weapon than a delicate weave of energy. When I was young my mother told me of ancient warriors who could wield blades of energy and armored themselves in protective magics and fought on the front lines to keep our ancestors safe. They could pull the fade around them like a cloak and move through a battlefield in the blink of an eye, disappearing from one spot and reappearing yards away. They say they could slow down time itself, bending battles to their will,” her eyes became unfocused, remembering a happier time when hearing stories of the ancient elvhen filled her with wonder and not melancholy, “It captivated me as a young child and I’ve never been able to get it out of my mind, so when my magic manifested and the keeper took me up as their apprentice it was quite hard for them to teach me anything outside that realm for a long while.”

“You speak of the arcane warriors with deserved awe, though misinformed. Unsurprising, as the Dalish often reject new knowledge presented to them out of superstition.”

“Okay,” she replied, bothered by his apparent air of superiority, “I do not know how to respond to that. If you would like to educate me on my apparent incorrect knowledge I am perfectly willing to listen. I do not paint myself as an expert on any subject outside my personal experiences or judge those based on the actions of few. But we should be on our way, correct?” with that she turned from the group and continued up the path, Cassandra following closely behind.

Varric looked at Arlena’s retreating back and back toward Solas, “Can’t you elves play nice for once?” 

Solas paused to take in what he had just heard, _She is an interesting one,_ then followed as well to catch up with the group.

 

They came to a large stone staircase ascending up the hill when she heard it again, the crackle of energy before her hand lit up and sparked and pain wrenched through her left side. Caught unaware, she just barely kept herself from careening into the snow, cursing under her breath as she stumbled sideways, holding on to her arm.

Varric ran forward to steady her, “Shit, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine,” she paused, still clutching her aching arm, “Thank you.”

 

As they continued their way up the hill Varric looked over to her, “So… _are_ you innocent?”

“Not that it seems to matter, but I don’t remember what happened.”

“Ah, that’ll get you everytime. Should have spun a story.”

“That’s what _you_ would have done,” Cassandra interjected from behind them.

He looked back at her and shrugged, “It’s more believable, and less prone to result in premature execution.”

After encountering a few more scattered demons the group crested the top of the hill, gates to the forward camp rising from the summit, to find a chaotic scene playing before them. Another rift to the fade spitting out groups of demons loomed in the air before them, sending out crackling green tendrils of energy and metallic thrum in the air. Soldiers were running around below trying to fight off the demons pouring through and preventing further damage to the gates. As the group ran forward toward the chaos a new group of demons that outnumbered the group materialized before them, long clawed hands and cloaked in darkness.

“They keep coming! Help us!”

The demons swarmed forward toward their small group as they ran into a makeshift formation, the two women charging forward while Solas and Varric held the demons back from behind. 

“Get to the rift! They will keep coming unless you seal it!”

Arlena swung her staff in an arc around her body, striking through the demon before her with her staff blade and twisting the end back around to send a wave of force from her to force back the demons around her.

“Help me clear a path! I can’t get through!”

She felt searing pain across her back as a demon with long vicious claws sliced through her skin, leaving blood trailing down her back. Crying out with pain and rage, she turned toward it, ready to send it back where it came from to find it falling back to ground, peppered with arrows.

“You okay there?” Varric yelled out, aiming at the next demon trying to attack Cassandra from behind.

“I will be!” she shouted back, already turning to find a path through to close the rift. A bolt of green energy shot by her, hitting the demon before her and clearing a path for her to run forward, “Thanks!”

Arlena ran forward toward the pulsating rift in the air, ignoring the sting from her back and dodging missiles from various demons until she was finally close enough and reached out her hand toward the rift. One of the tendrils of energy connected with her hand, sending a bead back and forth between her hand and the rift. She could feel the tension rising as she waited for the right moment. Her arm felt like it was on fire and being electrocuted at the same time and as she waited she could feel her body slowly lift slightly in the air from the energy pulsating back and forth. Black spots started to appear in the peripheral of her vision and right before she felt as though she may pass out, she wrenched her hand away, breaking the connection, and with a blast of energy that blew her back on to the ground, the rift disappeared.

She looked around at those still fighting, taking down the last straggling demons, and the scattered bodies of demons and soldiers alike, chunks of wood from the gates dotting the ground. She continued to sit on the ground, holding her aching arm and catching her breath, until the fighting ended. Slowly standing up, she made her way towards the gates.

“The rift is gone! Open the gate! And bring a medic!” Cassandra yelled out as she caught up to Arlena, inspecting her injuries. 

“Right away, Lady Cassandra!”

“We are clear for the moment. Well done.” said Solas, striding up next to her.

She looked over at the elf beside her, taking in his calm demeanor in the face of what they were going through, “Thanks.”

Varric caught up as well, sidling up to her other side, “Whatever that thing on your hand is, it’s useful.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

 

“Chancellor Roderick is a dick.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

“Of course I’m not,” Arlena replied, looking to Varric, “Are you ready?”

“Of course I am.”

 

Thoroughly wrapped in gauze and not at risk of bleeding out, Arlena and the party jogged on with the troops as they continued their trek up toward the temple, passing bodies being tended to by chantry mothers and smouldering piles of debris scattered along the landscape. 

During their trek, they encountered another rift and Arlena closed it while the soldiers and her new companions made quick work of the demons pouring forth. As she ripped her arm back, sparking with green energy that sent aches up her arm, a tall human man approached them dressed in armor and a large fur mantle. She looked at the man wearily, he had slightly curly blond hair that tumbled around his face, jostled free from all the fighting, rugged features more common among the humans with a slight scar on his upper lip, and light brown eyes below a very scrunched brow. _The girls at home would believe him to be handsome if he wouldn’t scowl so much. Though, maybe they’d like that,_ she thought as he raised his hand and continued his approach toward their group.

“Lady Cassandra, you managed to find a way to close the rifts? Well done.”

“It was the prisoner’s doing, not I, Commander.”

“I have a name, I thought we established this.”

“Ah, yes, I am sorry. This is Arlena, as you remember she is the one we took prisoner and the mark left on her hand seems to work to close the rifts.”

“We hope it’ll work on the big one, too,” Varric piped in. 

The Commander turned toward Arlena with a critical eye, “Ah, well I hope they’re right about you. We’ve lost a lot of people getting you here.”

“I know.”

“The way to the temple should be clear. Leliana will try to meet you there.”

“Good, let’s go.”

“Yes, let us move quickly. Give us time, Commander,” Cassandra said as they continued their way toward the temple.

The Commander turned to help a hobbling soldier as he spoke, “Maker watch over you, for all our sakes.”

As they moved on, Arlena glanced back to see the Commander looking toward her as they left with a look in his eyes she couldn’t quite decipher. Turning her head quickly, she continued on with the group toward the temple. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING  
> if you have any comments I'd love to read them!!

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING  
> TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK IN THE COMMENTS PLEASE!!  
> (also tell me if i need to tag anything else, i do not know what i am doing)


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